MicroRNA in Cervical Cancer: OncomiRs and Tumor Suppressor miRs in Diagnosis and Treatment

Cervical cancer is a female-specific disease with a high incidence and mortality. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are implicated in posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression and in the pathogenic mechanisms of cancer, suggesting their importance in diagnosis and treatment. miRNAs may have roles in the pathogenesis of cervical cancer based on the increases or decreases in several specific miRNAs found in patients with this disease. The miRNAs implicated in cervical cancer are miR-21, miR-126, and miR-143, and clinical application of these miRNAs for diagnosis and treatment is under investigation. Methods for diagnosis of cervical cancer include analysis of changes in the levels of specific miRNAs in serum and determination of aberrant hypermethylation of miRNAs. Supplementation of miR-143 or inhibition of miR-21 activity in vivo may be therapeutic strategy for cervical cancer. Previous approaches to development of siRNA as a drug have provided information for establishment of therapy based on these approaches, and an anti-miR-21 inhibitor has been developed. miRNAs also have effects on drug resistance and may be useful in combination therapy with other drugs

ジアシルグリセロールの乳化特性 : O/W型エマルションの油水界面における吸着タンパク質量の測定

In an earlier study, mayonnaise-like o/w emulsions prepared with diacylglycerol(DAG)showed higher viscosity than those prepared with triacylglycerol(TAG)under the same conditions. A similar tendency was observed even for preparations of oil droplets with approximately the same interface area, indicating that the amount of adsorbed proteins of DAG emulsions was higher than that of TAG emulsions. Thus, this study attempted to clarify the amount of adsorbed proteins on the emulsion prepared with DAG. The viscosity and oil droplet size of DAG and TAG emulsions with varying oil-volume fractions were measured, and the amount of adsorbed proteins on the interface of DAG and TAG emulsions were measured. DAG emulsions were found to contain less adsorbed proteins on the oil-water interface than TAG emulsions, suggesting that DAG and TAG differ with respect to their intermolecular interactions and structural changes following protein adsorption on the oil-water interface

A県内の高齢者向け住まいのサービス提供体制と医療的ケア及び看取りの受け入れ意向との関連

目的：A県の高齢者向け住まいのサービス提供体制と医療的ケア及び看取りの受け入れ意向との関連を明らかにする． 方法：A県の高齢者向け住まい（463か所）に勤務する管理者等を対象とし，入居者の状況，サービス提供体制等の自記式質問紙調査を実施した．サービス提供体制と医療的ケア及び看取りの受け入れ意向の有無との関連について，χ2検定又はFisherの直接確率検定を行った． 結果：有効回答は130施設（有効回答率28.1％）であった．医療的ケアの受け入れ意向では，「施設に看護師が常駐」「夜間ケアを提供する職員の配置」等の11項目，看取りの受け入れ意向では，「施設に常勤の介護職員」「施設に常勤の看護師」「協力医療機関の24時間緊急往診要請への対応」「看取りのマニュアルの整備」等の14項目に関連があった． 結論：高齢者向け住まいにおける医療的ケア及び看取りの受け入れには，看護職員・介護職員の配置及び医療機関等との連携の必要性が示唆された．Objectives: To clarify the relationship between the service provision system of housing for the elderly in A prefecture and the intention to accept medical care and end-of-life care. Method: A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted on residents’ status and components of the service provision system for managers working in residences for senior citizens in A Prefecture (463 facilities). The χ2 test or Fisher’s exact test was performed on the relationship between the service provision system and the intention to accept medical care and end-of-life care. Results: 130 valid responses were returned (effective response rate 28.1%). For the intention to accept medical care, 11 items were extracted, including “nurse resident in facility” and “allocation of staff providing night care”. For the intention to accept end-of-life care, 14 items were extracted, including“ full-time caregiver at facility”,“ full-time nurse at facility”,“ responding to 24-hour emergency visit requests with cooperating medical institutions” and“ maintenance manual”. Conclusion: It was suggested that the placement of nursing staff and cooperation with medical institutions are necessary for the acceptance of medical care and end-of-life care for the elderly.報

A Genome-Wide Association Analysis Identified a Novel Susceptible Locus for Pathological Myopia at 11q24.1

Myopia is one of the most common ocular disorders worldwide. Pathological myopia, also called high myopia, comprises 1% to 5% of the general population and is one of the leading causes of legal blindness in developed countries. To identify genetic determinants associated with pathological myopia in Japanese, we conducted a genome-wide association study, analyzing 411,777 SNPs with 830 cases and 1,911 general population controls in a two-stage design (297 cases and 934 controls in the first stage and 533 cases and 977 controls in the second stage). We selected 22 SNPs that showed P-values smaller than 10−4 in the first stage and tested them for association in the second stage. The meta-analysis combining the first and second stages identified an SNP, rs577948, at chromosome 11q24.1, which was associated with the disease (P = 2.22×10−7 and OR of 1.37 with 95% confidence interval: 1.21–1.54). Two genes, BLID and LOC399959, were identified within a 200-kb DNA encompassing rs577948. RT–PCR analysis demonstrated that both genes were expressed in human retinal tissue. Our results strongly suggest that the region at 11q24.1 is a novel susceptibility locus for pathological myopia in Japanese

Endoscopic therapy using an endoscopic variceal ligation for minute cancer of the esophagogastric junction complicated with esophageal varices: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Standard endoscopic mucosal resection or endoscopic submucosal dissection is a procedure for patients with minute cancers, complicated with esophageal varices that puts them at high risk of bleeding.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We present the case of a 77-year-old Japanese man with alcoholic cirrhosis who underwent a routine endoscopy examination as a screening procedure for esophageal varices and was incidentally diagnosed as having minute cancer of the esophagogastric junction with esophageal varices. Endoscopic ultrasonography findings suggested that the minute cancer was a non-invasive carcinoma (carcinoma <it>in situ</it>) and a 2 mm in diameter blood vessel, feeding the esophageal varices, pierced the lesion. Following the examination, we carried out endoscopic treatment of the minute cancer and esophageal varices. Endoscopic variceal ligation was performed using a pneumo-activated device (Sumitomo Bakelite, Tokyo, Japan). Two years after the treatment, during the follow-up endoscopic examination on the patient, recurrence of carcinoma was not detected endoscopically or histologically.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Endoscopic therapy using an endoscopic variceal ligation device for minute cancer of the esophagogastric junction, complicated with esophageal varices, may be an acceptable and easily applicable method.</p

群馬県訪問看護事業所における医療処置及び人工呼吸療法の事故発生状況，安全対策への取組の実態調査

目的：群馬県訪問看護事業所における医療処置及び人工呼吸器装着者の事故発生状況，安全対策への取組を明らかにし，地域における安全対策の体制整備を検討する． 方法：群馬県の訪問看護事業所の管理者421人を対象に自記式質問紙調査を実施した．有効回答は67人（15.9％），記述統計量を算出し，自由記述は類似性に基づき整理した． 結果：医療処置の事故は訪問看護提供時間内に14件（n＝31），影響度はレベル3以下，人工呼吸療法に関する事故は介護者在宅時が11件（n＝25），影響度はレベル4が1件（4.0％），レベル5が3件（12.0％）であった．発生時の対応は，介護職のケア時間に発生した事故の検討47.4％，地域の多機関で話し合う30.6％であった． 結論：人工呼吸器装着者の安全対策は，介護者のみの時間の療養者・家族が行う対策が重要であり，支援チーム，地域の多機関での事故に関する情報共有・検討が課題である．Purpose: This study examined the development of local safety measure systems by clarifying the incidence of accidents in medical procedures and among users of ventilators, as well as initiatives for safety measures at home-visit nursing stations in Gunma Prefecture. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 421 administrators of home-visit nursing stations in Gunma Prefecture and valid responses were obtained from 67 respondents (15.9％). Each item was subject to descriptive statistics and open-ended answers were organized based on similarities. Results: The respondents reported 14 (45.2％) medical procedure accidents that occurred during home-visit nursing hours with an impact level on patients of 3 or lower, and 11 (44.0％) ventilation therapy accidents that occurred while the caregiver was home, one of which had an impact level of 4 (4.0％) and three of which had an impact level of 5 (12.0％). Measures taken to address accidents were investigations into accidents that occurred during care hours by care workers in 47.4％ of cases and discussions among various local agencies in 30.6％ of cases. Conclusions: Regarding safety measures for users of ventilators, measures carried out by the patient and their family while only the caregiver was home were important. In the future, it is necessary to address the sharing and review of information on accidents among support teams and various local agencies.報

A-ring modified betulinic acid derivatives as potent cancer preventive agents

Ten new 3,4-seco betulinic acid (BA) derivatives were designed and synthesized. Among them, compounds 7–15 exhibited enhanced chemopreventive ability in an in vitro short-term 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) induced Epstein-Barr virus early antigen (EBV-EA) activation assay in Raji cells. Specifically, analogs with a free C-28 carboxylic acid, including 7, 8, 11, and 13, inhibited EBV-EA activation significantly. The most potent compound 8 displayed 100% inhibition at 1 × 103 mol ratio/TPA and 73. 4%, 35. 9%, and 8. 4% inhibition at 5 × 102, 1 × 102, and 1 × 10 mol ratio/TPA, respectively, comparable with curcumin at high concentration and better than curcumin at low concentration. The potent chemopreventive activity of novel seco A-ring BAs (8 and 11) was further confirmed in an in vivo mouse skin carcinogenesis assay

Autosomal dominant pseudohypoaldosteronism type 1 with a novel splice site mutation in MR gene

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Autosomal dominant pseudohypoaldosteronism type 1 (PHA1) is a rare inherited condition that is characterized by renal resistance to aldosterone as well as salt wasting, hyperkalemia, and metabolic acidosis. Renal PHA1 is caused by mutations of the human mineralcorticoid receptor gene (<it>MR</it>), but it is a matter of debate whether <it>MR </it>mutations cause mineralcorticoid resistance via haploinsufficiency or dominant negative mechanism. It was previously reported that in a case with nonsense mutation the mutant mRNA was absent in lymphocytes because of nonsense mediated mRNA decay (NMD) and therefore postulated that haploinsufficiency alone can give rise to the PHA1 phenotype in patients with truncated mutations.</p> <p>Methods and Results</p> <p>We conducted genomic DNA analysis and mRNA analysis for familial PHA1 patients extracted from lymphocytes and urinary sediments and could detect one novel splice site mutation which leads to exon skipping and frame shift result in premature termination at the transcript level. The mRNA analysis showed evidence of wild type and exon-skipped RT-PCR products.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>mRNA analysis have been rarely conducted for PHA1 because kidney tissues are unavailable for this disease. However, we conducted RT-PCR analysis using mRNA extracted from urinary sediments. We could demonstrate that NMD does not fully function in kidney cells and that haploinsufficiency due to NMD with premature termination is not sufficient to give rise to the PHA1 phenotype at least in this mutation of our patient. Additional studies including mRNA analysis will be needed to identify the exact mechanism of the phenotype of PHA.</p

地域包括ケアシステムにおける訪問看護ステーションの経営状況と事業所特性及び地域特性，経営管理との関連―全国と群馬県の比較―

目的：全国及び群馬県の訪問看護ステーション（以下，ST）の経営状況と事業所特性及び地域特性，経営管理との関連を明らかにし，比較検討する． 方法：全国2,000人及び群馬県163人のST管理者を対象とし，自記式質問紙調査を実施した．有効回答は全国473人，群馬県55人で，経営状況と各項目との関連はχ2検定及びKruskal-Wallis検定を，さらに経営状況を目的変数とするロジスティック回帰分析を行った． 結果：全国では，看護師常勤・看護師非常勤・事務職員非常勤の従業者数，1人1日平均訪問回数，北海道・東北地域，収支のモニタリングが黒字に関連していた．群馬県では関連がみられず，全国に比して赤字のST割合が多く，経営管理の得点が低かった． 結論：経営状況の改善には，ST規模の拡大やST管理者の収支のモニタリングに焦点を当てた行動の有効性が示唆された．群馬県では，経営管理に関する分析の強化が必要である．Objectives: The financial status of home-visit nursing stations (STs) was analyzed in relation to business office characteristics, local community characteristics and business management, and the results between Gunma Prefecture and all prefectures in Japan were compared. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire survey was completed by 163 ST managers in Gunma Prefecture and 2000 ST managers from all over Japan. Valid responses were collected from 55 managers from Gunma Prefecture and 473 managers from all over Japan. The association between management status with each variable was analyzed by the chisquare test and Kruskal-Wallis test. In addition, logistic regression analysis was carried out with the status of management as the dependent variable. Results: For STs all prefectures in Japan, profitable business (black-ink balance) was associated with the number of employees (full-time nurses, part-time nurses and part-time clerical staff), the mean number of care receiver homes visited daily by each nurse, the district (Hokkaido/Tohoku) and revenue/expenditure balance monitoring. In Gunma Prefecture, the percentage of red-ink operation STs was higher and the score for business management was lower than in all prefectures in Japan. Conclusions: These results suggest that management actions focusing on expansion of the scale of STs and on revenue/ expenditure balance monitoring by ST managers are effective in improving the status of management. In Gunma Prefecture, reinforcement of how to analyze business management is needed.原